What happened to all the experinced High School coaches?

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Originally posted by The Pitching Academy:
Most high school coaches have always been bad. My High School coaches had me teaching the pitchers about mechanics when I played for them. I guess that's where it all started for me.

That is an awful generalization from your own experience. I think you're making a mistake making such a blanket statement about "most" high school coaches.

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Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:

quote:

Originally posted by The Pitching Academy:
Most high school coaches have always been bad. My High School coaches had me teaching the pitchers about mechanics when I played for them. I guess that's where it all started for me.

That is an awful generalization from your own experience. I think you're making a mistake making such a blanket statement about "most" high school coaches.

Yes...I agree with Emanski. We can also say that there are a number of TERRIBLE PRIVATE INSTRUCTORS too, that are in it ONLY for the money. I guess I'm lucky that my son has a pretty good HS coach/staff at his school?

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Originally posted by bsbl247:

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Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:

quote:

Originally posted by The Pitching Academy:
Most high school coaches have always been bad. My High School coaches had me teaching the pitchers about mechanics when I played for them. I guess that's where it all started for me.

That is an awful generalization from your own experience. I think you're making a mistake making such a blanket statement about "most" high school coaches.

Yes...I agree with Emanski. We can also say that there are a number of TERRIBLE PRIVATE INSTRUCTORS too, that are in it ONLY for the money. I guess I'm lucky that my son has a pretty good HS coach/staff at his school?

I agree with them, as a pitching instructor I would expect better than to make those statements here, where we have had HS coaches posting for many years.

I also agree, there are some pretty bad instuctors out there, taking money from people they have no business taking it from.

That is the problem I have when threads like this one and other threads like it are started on this site. "Most" "All" "The vast majority" on and on it goes. How many hs coaches did you play for? How many hs coaches have you personally worked with? I dont have a problem with someone coming on here if they choose to and saying "The High School coach" "A High School coach." But really how many High School coaches do kids play for? How much contact do parents have with High School coaches outside of the one coach their son plays for?

I have had hundreds of parents of players. I have had hundreds of players play for me. If I had a bad experience with a parent would I say "All parents of players ____________?" No. Because that would not be fair to all the other great parents I have met and got to know over the years. I know many HS coaches. I have worked and worked with many HS coaches over the years. The vast majority are great guys who love the game and want to help their players. And they want to win and learn as much as they can so they can win more.

We have thread after thread started by a parent who is upset that their son is not doing what they think he should and getting what they think he should get and its always because of the HS caoch. How about taking some personal responsibility for your baseball? How many months a year do you have to do that? Nine out of 12? How many years did you have to do that before you got to HS. 14 or 15 years? If your not a player its not because of some HS coach. Its because you either dont have enough talent to be a player. Or you believe that its someone else's responsibility to make you or make your son a player. Why would you leave it in someone else's hands? If its that important to you take some freaking personal responsibility in your game and get off your butt and make it happen. Stop using the HS coach as a punching bag and an excuse for not being a player.

I have coached in HS for many years and the funny thing is everytime I play the other team the best players are in the line up facing me. And my best players are on the field as well. And the fact is every player that I have ever coached that excelled at the HS level and played in college and played pro ball ALL took personal responsibility for their baseball. They were the guys that were always looking for ways to get better. They were the guys always looking to work harder. They were the guys that never looked for excuses. They were the guys that overcame what ever they had to overcome.

I had limited pitching experience. I know the basics of pitching fundementals. Especially when I was coming up in the game as a coach. My guys bought in to what I was selling and worked their butts off. They sought out better coaching and I encouraged it in the off season. Many played in college , some got drafted and play in the Show. They did it. I couldnt stop them. And neither will your HS coach no matter how much of a clown he might be. How in the world did anyone succeed in this game before everyone became an expert at teaching this sport?

The blame game gets old. The excuse's run rampant in this game. Get off your butt and make yourself a player. Or keep looking for excuses and be ready because they will come to you in buckets. And be ready to carry them around with you and use them the rest of your life to explain why you didnt make it. "My son would have but his HS coach!" "I would have but my HS coach.!" Nice hold on to that one. I am sure your the first person to use it. Yeah right.

Very true Coach May, I knew you'd have more to say after The Academy post...BUT how in the heck did you put those thoughts down so quickly?

Coach May,
I think it is now called: "My Baseball Coach Sucks:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGaU0MjQFAo

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:

I also agree, there are some pretty bad instuctors out there, taking money from people they have no business taking it from.

Totally agree. In fact, I have seen situations where the idea that the high school coach was "bad" was planted by the private instructor. "The coach isn't playing YOUR son? Ohmygosh, what an idiot he must be. Oh yeah, where's my check?"

Are all instructors like that? Of course not. I would say a majority are good guys with good instruction to offer. But I have seen bad ones, and I'm not going to generalize based on those few.

Yep seen it as well. In fact "Coach my son has been taking instruction from a former pro player and he says that Jimmy should be ________ and ___________ and your hurting his swing by teaching him ______________ and _____________. He also said in his mind Jimmy is the best hitter on the team and he doesn't understand why he is not in the line up." Well Mrs _____ how much did you have to pay him for him to tell you that? How many more lessons is he going to need with this instructor?

The kid couldnt hit a hog in the a s s with a bass fiddle. The Mom went on to tell me that the instructor was coming to the next game to watch bp so he could see who the other kids were that were on the team that could out hit Jimmy. "Well tell him to stop by and say hello after the game. I would love to meet him."

The kid transferred and was cut the next year from the local HS team which we routinely run rule. To this day the Mom tells everyone in our small town how the HS coach ruined her sons chance of playing at NC State. Oh did I just bust on a parent? My bad.

The sad thing is I really felt like if I could have had a couple of years with the kid and he had bought in he could have been a decent hs hitter. I guess I should have charged him some lessons. Oh did I just bust on a private instructor? My bad.

There are good and bad in everything. But its always going to fall on the players shoulders. For some thats just too much to ask for.

By the way bsbl247 I have them on file. Every year when this stuff rolls around I just pull them back up.

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Originally posted by Coach_May:
By the way bsbl247 I have them on file. Every year when this stuff rolls around I just pull them back up.

That is way too funny. Really funny.

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Originally posted by Coach_May:
The sad thing is I really felt like if I could have had a couple of years with the kid...

Yes, the sad thing is kids get caught in the middle of these things.

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My High School coaches had me teaching the pitchers about mechanics when I played for them. I guess that's where it all started for me

I played for two great coaches in high school. And I was actually teaching the game my junior and senior year. I wasn't a stud player, but I know the game of baseball and knew it then just as much as I do now. After my freshman year of college, I was back coaching at my high school during the summer season. My varsity coach offered me a coaching job at the end of my senior year.

So what?

Bulldog,

I'm guessing you know more now than you did then.

I haven't had time to read the whole thread. I've said this before (many times) and I'll say it again (with a slight addition)...

(Tied with Coach May ), I truly believe that my son has THE BEST high school coach (and staff) in America. I mean it 120% and I count my lucky stars about it over and over.

Given all of the negative threads on here about HS baseball and coaches, I just believe I need to say that whenever I get the opportunity. I gotta believe there are more than just two! Lets hear about 'em more often.

I got to thinking about this thread last night and came to this thought. Between the ages of 14 and 21 my older son had no less than 15 head coaches, 8 pitching coaches and 2 roving pitching instructors. Why all the consternation about a high school coach. Teach Junior to be flexible, adaptable and coachable if you really want to teach them something they can use.

By the way my younger son who is a HS junior has had 3 head coaches in high school already and three different summer coaches. It is the way it is either adapt, evolve or perish.

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Originally posted by deldad:
I got to thinking about this thread last night and came to this thought. Between the ages of 14 and 21 my older son had no less than 15 head coaches, 8 pitching coaches and 2 roving pitching instructors. Why all the consternation about a high school coach. Teach Junior to be flexible, adaptable and coachable if you really want to teach them something they can use.

By the way my younger son who is a HS junior has had 3 head coaches in high school already and three different summer coaches. It is the way it is either adapt, evolve or perish.

Tremendous post. One of the best I've read here in the past few months.

I agree that deldad's post is excellent.

Coach May is saying the same thing: Stop making excuses and take responsiblity for yourself. If your not getting playing time it's more about your ability at that time than it is about the coach. It's always easier to blame someone else for your failures than to look in the mirror and see what the real problem is.

I agree that the large majority of kids (parents) complaining about playing time are not realistic in their kids' abilities. However, there are definitely times when kids get a raw deal and the coach is not playing them due to politics, philosophy or some other personal reason. I have seen this first hand on 3 different occasions (and no, I'm not talking about my kid).

2013 Dad the question is not wether or not there are politics in baseball but when will you encounter them. Are there politics at your job? When I scored the highest score on a written test and highest score on the oral review board in 1987 an was denied a promotion because I was not a minority I had two choices. I could whine and cry and sulk or I could continue to bust my butt and do my job the best I could because that's who I really was. Thats what I did. And thats what I teach my kids and my players.

When you encounter politics you have choices to make. And they are no different in baseball than they are in the game of life. You can either use them as an excuse on why you couldn't. Or you can continue to be who you are to overcome those obstacles. It may not come when you want it to. It may not come in the way you imagined it would come. But it will come.

Baseball just like life sometimes is not fair. So what? What really is? Is it fair that a kid is given something by someone and does not have to earn it only to fail later in the game because when he has to earn it he does not know how? Is that fair to that kid? Is if fair that the kid who has had to earn everything he has ever gotten in the game and has had to learn how to overcome obstacles along the way does indeed succeed later in the game when everyone has to earn it? Or succeeds later in life because of the lessons learning in the game?

I see obstacles and roadblocks in the game and life as blessings. They are the fire that forges the steel. Bring it on. I will beat you. I will overcome it. I will be tougher than you when it really counts. I will know I earned it. You will be looking over your shoulder wondering when I am going to show up and kick your butt. Because you will know in your heart you dont deserve it. And I will know it my heart my time is coming.

Forget the politics and focus on what you can control. You can find a million excuses and ways to fail. Just look around you everyday and do what so many others are doing. Coaches want tough kids. They want players they can not break. They want players that refuse to give in. F politics. They are no more than a pothole in the road that you simply drive over on your way to winning. Or they are the excuse you use when you lose. You make the choice. No one else can do that. Unless you let them.

quote:

However, there are definitely times when kids get a raw deal and the coach is not playing them due to politics, philosophy or some other personal reason. I have seen this first hand on 3 different occasions (and no, I'm not talking about my kid).

Yes, it happens.
The reality though is it also happens in college and it might be even more prominent in Milb.
In Milb, there are plenty of players who perform and produce nearly every time they get an opportunity. However, they are "stuck" behind a higher round draft pick or free agent in whom the organization has an investment of $$$$$.
After they think they have proven themselves with a very good season, the player arrives the following February at ST to find he is back down on the depth chart... and the team brought in more players above and below him.
Baseball is life. It can be filled with perceived flaws and faults.
If the player loves the game, he pursues it with a passion. He arrives early, stays late, does everything he is asked and more and outworks every player on that team, no matter what the level of play. He can control his effort and quality of play.
No player or parent can control "politics." No one becomes a better player because their parent complained about the "politics." Eventually, if you have passion, heart and can play the game, even politics can be overcome.

Another beautiful post by Coach May!